The new year is always a bit strange, isn’t it?

For many of us, there’s no real interruption to routine, New Year’s Day feels just like any other day. But unlike every other day, there’s this energy that stirs just under the surface. This unspoken expectation that however you choose to spend this day will reverberate  through the rest of the year.

• Are you sleeping in with a New Year’s hangover? So much for getting healthy.
• Are you bringing work home with you again? So much for work/life balance.
• Are you fighting with your spouse? So much for getting your relationship back on track.

But how is putting so much pressure on one day realistic? It’s time to let go of the all-or-nothing mentality.

Because as much as the first day of 2022 is a chance to begin again, so is the second day, the third day, heck, even the afternoon of the third day can be a fresh start.

I propose a new way of thinking. I propose we think of 2022 as a chance to choose to hold a little less tightly to our past habits, thought patterns, and routines, and take steps toward a better future. Small, daily steps that add up to a better you.

That’s what this blog is about! 

Journal Prompts for The New Year

I'll start with these 7 journal prompts to close the chapter on 2021 and help you start the new year on the right foot. 

• What worked/What didn't work?
• What are you most proud of?
• What's the one thing you're going to say yes to this year and why?
• What's something you will not compromise? 
• What part of yourself do you want to grow this year?
• What's your mantra this year and why? 
• How do you want to feel this time next year? 

Get somewhere comfortable with a pen and journal, set a timer for 10 minutes, choose a topic and free write, never letting your pencil stop moving.

If you get stuck, write, "What I really mean is..." until you get unstuck. 

4 Mindset Hacks to Change Your Life in 2022

1. Recommit, Release, or Renegotiate

Before you set new goals, look at the ones you have, and either recommit to them, release them, or renegotiate them with yourself.

Auditing your goals; I come back to this concept a lot. My team will tell you I have my hands in a million things at any given moment, and I like it that way, but even I had to reassess and pair down this year.

Last month, I started to feel friction with my podcast. It was the first time I had felt that way since I started over a year ago. It was becoming harder to make time to record the episodes, and I was starting to repeat myself.

I didn’t want to release the podcast altogether because:

• I really love doing it
• It’s my way of making mindset work education free and accessible to everyone
• Based on the data and feedback I’ve received, I know people are listening and I KNOW it’s making a difference.

That said, I also didn’t want to recommit to the podcast in the same way because I felt myself starting to burn out.

So, I renegotiated the podcast. Ultimately, I made the choice to reduce my episode frequency simply because doing a daily podcast (20 episodes a month) no longer felt effortless to me.

Don’t let another year go by feeling overwhelmed or distracted by a goal that you aren’t fully committed to. Don’t ignore friction in your life. It’s a lot like discomfort in your body. If you ignore it, it grows and it spreads.

Instead, take a moment and ask yourself these questions:

• What goals do I have right now?
• Where do I feel friction?
• Do I need to recommit, release, or renegotiate? 

2. Allow Things to Be Effortless

Despite what your badass, high-performance brain might want you to think, “effortless” is not a 4-letter word.

In fact, that feeling of effortlessness doesn’t come when you stop giving a shit, grinding, or working hard. 

Effortlessness is what happens when your life and daily habits are aligned with what you really want.

Because when you’re aligned, even if your goals require late nights, long hours, and hard work, the sacrifices you need to make don't really feel like sacrifices. They feel like worthy investments in your happiness and life purpose.

3. Attach a Feeling to the Outcome

As athlete-minded people, many of us hold stubbornly to the idea that self-discipline alone can get us where we want to go. And it can… technically. But is that really the healthiest, most fulfilling, and sustainable option? Absolutely not.

What makes your goals powerful to your subconscious brain are the emotions you attach to them.

The first thing you should do when you set a goal is think about how you'll feel when you accomplish it. Sit with that, meditate on that, dream about it, and journal about it. Even talk about it (scary, I know)

Think about a goal you want to accomplish, then sit in silence and think about how you’ll feel when you accomplish that goal. One by one, go through all five senses and try to paint a clear, mental picture for yourself. Then journal using the prompt: What (in your life) will improve when you reach this goal?

Return to this exercise often and anytime you need a motivational boost.

4. Align Your Daily Habits

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it’s so much easier to do something every day than it is to do it every once in a while. This is a scientific fact.

If you wake up every morning without a plan, you spend precious energy on every little decision. Self-discipline is finite, and habits are what you fall back on when your self-discipline goes to s***.

I won’t just tell you to create a plan, I’ll take it one step further and let you in on my personal system.

The Daily Mindset Beast: This is a 15 minute, 4-part mindset exercise that I do every day that helps me plan my day, prioritize appropriately, delegate what I can, and check in with my goals.

Step 1 of the Daily Mindset Beast is going through the 5 D’s of Goal Setting. I start by brain-dumping everything I need to do. Then, I go through this exercise to get organized.

• Delete - Anything that is not important.
• Divide - Into smaller tasks. For example, if I need to send my student a goal setting journal, I break it down into smaller steps because each one takes time.
  • Drive to the craft store
  • Buy the journal
  • Wrap the gift
  • Go to the post office
• Delegate - Tasks to other people. This is a big one, and it's an easy one to forget. Put names down next to tasks that can be delegated, and send them off.
• Decide - What needs to happen first, and stick to what you prioritize. Get these tasks done before moving on to anything that can be deferred.
• Defer - Anything that can be done later. These tasks are your lowest priority.

For steps 2-4 of The Daily Mindset Beast, get your free download here!

If you really want to change your life in 2022, don’t let yourself get caught up in resolutions before you get your mind right. 

First, recommit, release, or renegotiate old goals, then make a commitment to yourself to allow things to be effortless, tap into your emotions for motivation, and finally, align your daily habits with what you really want.

Above all else, remember that even if you get off track, you can always make the choice to begin again.

Ps. Do your goals include wanting to take mental training a step further by becoming a mindset coach? Check out our Mindset Coach Academy and sign up for our waitlist to get updates about this year’s course!